Nine storeys of scaffolding blown off Cormorant Street condominiums

A towering mess of broken metal rods, wood planks and tarpaulin was strewn across Cormorant Street this morning as nine storeys of scaffolding crashed to the ground.

Around 9 a.m. passersby saw the scaffold structure encasing the Denby Place condominiums at 770 Cormorant St. teeter wildly in the intense wind.

“We were going by and someone flagged us down,” said Cst. Devon Fountain, from Victoria police. “Luckily, we were able to block pedestrian traffic so no one was hurt. It was coming down – there was nothing we could do about that.”

Fountain said they called the scaffolding contractors, Integrity Wall Systems, who came to the scene immediately. At least one car was buried in the mess, a tree and some railings appeared to be damaged.

Kevin Ward and his two roommates were sleeping in their third-floor apartment when he heard what sounded like an earthquake.

“I got up and saw it fall,” he said.

Eighth-floor resident Bob Deschambeau had gone to Crystal Pool to work out just after 8 a.m. and returned home to find the front entrance of the building buried in debris.

“I heard it all fell in one swoosh,” he said. The scaffolding had been there for about a year while the facade of the building was made over.

The section of Cormorant street in front of the building is blocked off while crews clean up the debris. The scaffolding contractor was not yet able to be reached to comment on the exact cause of the structure fail, the cost of damages or who will incur the cost – the company or strata owners.

Heavy winds Saturday night also caused scaffolding to come down at two locations in downtown Victoria: The Hudson Project at Douglas and Fisgard streets, and the former Vic Theatre at Douglas and Humboldt.

In both cases, scaffolding was covered by a tarpaulin, which acted as a sail in the strong wind.

Douglas Street between Fisgard and Herald was closed while crews worked to clear the debris from the middle of the street. No damage or injury was reported.

Lights flickered for many people Saturday night and Sunday morning, and went out completely for several thousand.

Early Sunday, B.C. Hydro reported more than 4,400 customers were without power on the south Island. The outages came as the wind picked up. Blackouts affecting the most people were in North Saanich, Central Saanich and Saanich, B.C. Hydro's website showed.

Snow flurries were spotted in parts of Greater Victoria late Saturday -- and lasted for about 90 seconds, according to several posts on Twitter.

A cold snap, made painfully worse by wind gusts, has arrived on the east coast of Vancouver Island and will likely persist through the coming week. Snow could also become a part of the mix by Sunday.

Environment Canada is forecasting a 60 per cent chance of snow flurries, and winds of 30 to 60 km/h with gusts to 90 km/h,which is enough for a wind warning.

Anne McCarthy, weather services specialist with Environment Canada, said cold weather coming in from the Interior of the province will make places like Island View Beach a tough place for a walk. But sheltered spots along the west coast of the Island will be far more comfortable.

As the rain and clouds which plagued much of last month give way to clear, bright skies, Victorians should recognize nothing comes for free, not even rain-free days.

“It’s definitely clearer and colder,” said McCarthy.

Sunday’s forecast calls for a sunny day with a high of 4 C and winds gusting from 60 to 90 km/h. And in the following days it’s going to get worse, at least temperature wise. The coldest day in the forecast is Tuesday.

“We are really going into a nice cold snap here,” said McCarthy. “We won’t even break zero on Monday and Tuesday.”

Environment Canada predicts the highest temperature in the coming week will be a mere 2C on Thursday and Friday.

Now in Victoria, BC. I'm from beautiful Jasper Alberta in the heart of the Can. Rockies - will always be an Albertan at heart!

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Debris started falling at the old Bay building last night during the Truck Light Parade (near when the downtown/Oak Bay part was over, I think the parade was around Mayfair when reports started coming in - and everyone was trying to get out of downtown).

It was a window-rattling wind last night, which made it rather difficult to sleep, and just in the past hour (since it got dark) it has picked up again to that strength, although it was windy all day. Gusts could go up to 110km/hr tonight.